Farmers stage protest on NH-24; commuters affected

Thousands of commuters on NH-24 faced inconvenience as traffic came to a halt for several hours today as farmers staged a protest against a builder.
Claiming that their land was "unfairly" allotted to the private developer of a proposed hi-tech city in Ghaziabad, affected farmers from 18 villages blocked the route as they staged a march to the collectorate office this morning.
Some of the agitating farmers also allegedly thrashed some commuters when they requested them to free the passage.
"Some farmers thrashed me when I urged them to free the highway so that commuters don't face any inconvenience. They misbehaved with those asking them to call off their protest," said Sumit Singh, who was on his way to Bullandshar.

The farmers alleged that they were being forced to repeat the Bhatta-Parsaul episode.
The agitating farmers are demanding 10 per cent developed plots (seven per cent residential and three per cent commercial) in lieu of their land acquired, jobs to each family, whose land has been acquired, development of their villages, revised rates of acquisition etc.
"As of now, no commuter has registered a complaint against farmers. If anybody registers case with us, strict action will be taken against the accused farmers," a senior police officer said.